we dont all get happy endings
by classic charm
Summary: Jake and Nessie had to run for it in Breaking Dawn. Unfortunatly for Jake the Volturi found and stabbed him. Aro, intrigued by Nessie, raised her as a daughter. Now she's going to find out the worst part about being human is that you have a heart to break
1. prologue all 3,000 words!

**bare with me. it's certainly been a while and the gods know my grammar sucks.  
i own nothing**

**there's a reason the Grimm stories never made it out of paperbacks**

I jolted awake in a cold sweat. I couldn't recollect the origin of my dream but my ragged breathing and feverish state told me it was far from pleasant. The only light of my bedroom came from a digital clock that flashed back 2 AM. I groaned and slammed back into my bed aware that I was not getting any more sleep.

I dragged myself out of bed and flicked on the lights as I rubbed the last bits of sleep from my eyes. The heavy black curtains hid my light from the outside world and I did not mind for the streets of Volterra were barren at this hour. There had to be someone doing something productive that I could distract them from, Caius was often working at this ungodly hour. I pulled on a dark blue sweater that could easily pass for black and a pair of jeans because there was no need for formal attire today.

With a pair of slippers on my feet I began to wander the halls of our castle. I knew that electricity ran through the entire structure but the torches lining the halls gave it such a morbid touch. It made me smile. With an extra spring in my step I made my way though the sinuous halls and found myself gravitating towards the study.

Sulpicia passed me and smiled flawlessly. I returned the gesture but as soon as she had passed me I felt a familiar jealous rage overcome me. I hate being half human. I'm not as pretty as anyone else, I slower, dumber, weaker, and it sucked! I'm just a glitch in this web of grace and perfection. I justified all of the above as reasons to hate Sulpicia but most of all I hated how she caught my father's eye.

I pushed open the heavy oak door light it was Styrofoam. Aro was at his desk with a thick red book open. I knew he was aware of my presence but he didn't even look up when I entered. I loved the study and could be found ordinarily roaming the shelves for my favorite romance novel or just taking in the musty odor that reveal my father to be the most educated in all of Italy.

"Um..." I tried to get him to look up.

_"Buona sera la mia figlia" _he said still avoiding eye contact. Italian was my first language but I much preferred English which I knew I had told him. I twirled my long hair around my fingers.

_"Inglese, per favore"_ I requested hoping he would detect the pleading in my voice.

"You're forgetting to take your medicine," he glanced up. I bit my bottom lip in apology. I always forgot to take the darn stuff which was why I looked fifteen instead of twenty-five. My father had created a special medication to make my body age beyond the age of six for a more convenient use. It was much easier to get a thirty year old into Buckingham Palace than a lost six year old.

"Sorry," fawning wouldn't work so I would skip the proper flattery. "Would it be out of line to ask if I could go do something outside?"

"Completely," he shut the book and looked at me from his chair. My nut brown eyes were locked on his red ones and I sighed, hiding my urge to blink (stupid human reflex).

"Please?" I whined. "You want me to have human experiences so to the outside world I appear more human, so why can't I have them?"

"Because you're still too young," I hated it when he was over-protective. Which was all the time. It was annoying because even though he was my father he still had to use me as a weapon of mass destruction and intimidation. Come on, how can I do that if I look so young and innocent?

"I've been training _forever_," I batted my eyelashes. "If you would but touch my palm then you would know how much I want this." I held out my hand.

"No Serafinda," he used my full name even though everyone else called me Sera. "My daughter, you have to trust me."

I did the unthinkable. I placed two fingers on his hand and transmitted every memory of how hard I had worked to become accustomed to the sent of human blood, how I had learned to walk like a normal human girl, how I practiced stumbling over words in the mirror, all of my hard work that I spent _years_ developing every skill needed. The last image I got to show him was the determination my eyes shone and how they hadn't been the deep red I longed for in months.

It was against our rules for anyone to touch our leader, my father, without his previous consent. I was still young and naive so I could always play the card that I was still a child, yet to learn to full magnitude of such transgressions and walk away with a slap on the wrist as opposed to burning in pieces.

When I drew my hand back I took a deep breath to keep from feeling light headed. There were the combined forces of him taking all my memories while I tried to send him as many images as I could think up. I knew my father would be upset but I was his favorite, he had raised me from the poor abandoned child I once was.

"No," he said sternly and I groaned. He looked terribly serious and I could feel my heart rate rise so I knew he could here it. We took "smelling fear" to a whole new level.

I opened my mouth to say something but he held up a hand in silence. "Absolutely not," he said. "You have no idea the preparations we have to make for someone to leave the castle, let alone you."

"But why am I so special?" I leaned against his desk with a hand under my chin in thought.

"You're unique," he reminded me. It was the excuse of all my teachers. Unique, unique, unique, that was all I ever heard!

"What if I don't want to be unique?"

"That was never your decision," my father's gaze was enough to send me into tears but I stood my ground. "We'll discus your punishment later," that was my cue to run along but I didn't take it. I was about to make another plea when I heard to door open behind me.

I jumped a bit like the moronic deaf vampire I was. When I turned I saw an empty doorway but when I turned back to my father I saw Demetri standing at my side. Damn his speed.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but there is a matter of urgency afoot," he held out his hand but my father didn't take it. Instead he pushed his chair back and walked with Demetri to the door as I glowered at the two of them.

Determined to be here when he got back I sat at my father's desk and looked at his book. It was an old book that held no meaning to me and I tossed it to the side. I fussed around with the other papers on his desk until I came to a manila folder labeled _Cullen._ I must have spent months looking through my father's files and marveling at the beauty of other vampires. I opened this one and flipped through some papers.

This wasn't a family I had heard of. They sounded oddly familiar, more so than they did when I had devoured the Denali Coven's file. There were endless notes on the family's history which I skimmed through with wonder. It wasn't until I found the picture of Edward Cullen and his mate, Isabella Cullen, that I knew something was wrong.

All the previous photos had been copies of family portraits or school photos taken from a yearbook. The ones of Isabella and Edward were all candid shots taken when they walked in front of a window or out a door. I could tell that Isabella must have been changed after she met Edward by the drastic change in her appearance.

She seemed familiar. I didn't want to call her Isabella but something else. I tried out different nicknames in my head to see which one fit. Iz...Issy...Belle...Bella, I stopped there. That one seemed to fit like two puzzle pieces. I didn't know why I felt so attached to her or the sorrow I felt whenever I saw one of her pictures even though she looked more than content with her mate.

I brushed my fingertips against the photo like she had the face of a porcelain doll. I stared at her for a good five minutes until I gasped for oxygen and quickly turned to the next photo where my hands started shaking.

_"Renesmee..."_ a voice cooed light the sweetest of wind chimes. I felt the memory being dragged back from somewhere I couldn't remember. _"So beautiful."_ It had to be Bella. She was talking to me. But why was she calling me such a weird name?

I threw it face down in frustration and raked my eyes against the next photograph, one with Bella and a baby in her hands. Me.

Memories flooded me along with pictures and voices, I cupped my hands over my ears and shut my eyes to try to lock them out but they just became brighter.

_"Nessie,"_ someone sung, I recognized them as Jacob, Jake, but I knew no one by the name. _"Love of my life."_

_"My daughter, my angel,"_ someone gasped. Edward's face and the word father lingered. _"Amazing."_

_"Beautiful! We're going to have so much fun together, I can't wait to show you all the outfits I picked out for you!"_

_"Pretty baby..."_

_"She's happy, but wants her mother."_

_"Come to your Auntie Rose, I'll keep that mongrel away from you."_

_"A miracle, she' like nothing I've ever seen, I need to measure her immediately but she seems to be in perfect health. Just listen to that heartbeat!"_

_"Looks like Bella had it in her after all. Way to go Edward, you sure make one hell of a kid."_

_"I'll never let you go...."_

"Stop!" I screamed out at the invisible voices. "Go away!"

"What's wrong?" Aro bust into the study while tears streamed down my face.

"Who are they?" I demanded, shoving the file at him. "Who is that baby? Why do I look like her?"

"They're no one of concern," he said comforting me. "They-"

"Am I her daughter?" my voice cracked three octaves in my outrage. He looked baffled so I clarified. "Edward and Bella Cullen. Are they my parents? And who is Jacob Black? Why isn't he in any of these pictures?" I quickly sorted through the pictures trying to find one to match the memory with no avail.

"Jacob Black is dead," he said solemnly. "As are all of those in the photographs. Now what did I tell you about going through your father's files?" he put a hand on gloved hand on my shoulder and I flinched away. He wasn't my father anymore.

"Why don't you take a walk outside?" he suggested as if giving me what I wanted would make everything else disappear.

He helped me from his chair and practically pushed me out the door and all I could do was walk completely dazed to the exit of the castle. Fully aware any vampire within a three mile radius heard what I had screamed no one bothered to stop me as I walked the empty streets of Volterra.

This was what I wanted, I had to remind myself. But as I paced the barren streets I couldn't do anything but let my mind wander with my feet. This was not happening. The images of Bella and Edward were burned into my memory along with a million of Jake. They weren't dead, I could feel it. They had to be alive.

It was hot outside and it bothered me. I couldn't take anything rationally in my state and immediately tore off the sleeves of my sweater like they were paper. It felt like my clothes were smothering me and I ripped my collar to shreds and turned my jeans into shorts. I tossed the rags off to the side of the street while I walked in the middle of the street.

When I felt I was far enough away from the castle I sat down on the stoop of someone's house and thought. I pulled the tie from my hair and threw it over my shoulder. I untangled my braid from my waist long hair with my fingers and I sat with my head in my hands before I forced myself to bring up the most painful of memories.

Her face was easy to bring up, I had only seen it a few moments ago. I locked my jaw and kept my eyes shut tightly and I refused to move until I remembered something about her. My hearing was nothing compared to Aro's or even Jane's but I could still hear the soft spoken word that the mother in the house next to me spoke to her child, a baby perhaps, as she lay them down.

_"I love you,"_ Bella, my mother told me. _"More than anything. In our hearts we'll always be together. But when the time comes today, you have to leave me. Don't tell Jacob until I tell you to run."_

I dragged up images of a brutal fight and then I remember being carried by a wolf. No, a werewolf. No, _Jacob_. This was giving me a headache but I forced myself to go on. Everything flashed by and I focused on when we stopped.

I forced myself to go on. This was worse than anything Jane could have done to me. I felt my heart was being pushed up my throat and I couldn't breathe. I wanted to stop, I would have given most anything to stop but my mind was working on two different frequencies, one too far ahead to care.

Aro. Aro and Caius were blocking Jacob and me from going to wherever we needed to be. There was Jacob's low growl as he tried to protect me. It was useless though, he silently told me to run and I did. But I remembered looking back. I caught the final blow Caius delivered before Jake whimpered and fell to the ground.

I nearly cried out. Actually, I did cry out. I stopped and let the tears run. It was my fault, for not finding out sooner. I could have run away...I have to run away. They were somewhere in the United States; somewhere with perpetual rain and tight knit communities. I sighed and held my head to my knees left whimpering in my misery.

This is why I didn't hear the footsteps.

**last time i did not beg for reviews so that will be the control of my study. REVIEW!!!!!! please...?**


	2. sorry but i had to

**geez people. apparently reverse physiology worked better. that or i need to pick up the quality of the writing.... THANKS.**

**fa lalala la, la la la laaaaaaaaaa!!!  
merry christmas/happy boxing day/new years/valentine's day**

"What's wrong?" someone asked and I jumped up with inhuman reflexes and got into a steady defensive position. I relaxed when I saw it was a pitiful human boy who had a spine I could always snap in half if he gave me any trouble. "Do you speak Italian?"

"What?" did I really look that white? "Of course I speak Italian." I said harshly. "This is Volterra, _Italy_."

"Sorry," he put his hands up in mock innocence.

Everything Aro had taught me told me to stay away from him and return to the castle but I felt like being a rowdy teenager instead of a picture perfect vampire daughter. He was that tall, dark, and hansom type that didn't come along too much in Italy so I was just going to take advantage of his gentle looks for my own personal revenge on Aro. That's not at all cynical or self centered, right?

"Are you alright? Why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying!" I wiped away the last of my tears and forced a smile. "I'm bored, is there anything to do?"

"It's two in the morning."

"And your point?" I guess he wasn't nocturnal like me so to him time actually meant something. "You don't exactly look like you're dressed to go to sleep. And if you are we need to have a serious conversation on your jammies."

"I was going to a party," he admitted holding out his hand. "Raphael."

"Nessie," I shook it. Serafinda, while a traditional Italian name, wasn't exactly common. The Loch Ness Monster, however, was much more people friendly.

"I haven't seen you around here before," he started walking to his party and I could feel the faint vibrations through the ground of distant music far before I could make out the toon. If this was Raphael's invitation to go to this party then I wasn't missing this human experience. "Are you from around here?"

"Yeah," I said automatically but immediately regretted it.

"Where do you live? You don't go to school here."

"I'm home schooled," I said which was a lie of omission. "I was born in America though, Washington. I'm pretty sure."

"_Los Estados Unidos," _he said in surprise. "Well have you ever been to one of these parties before? Think you can handle it?"

"I'm oddly not compelled to rip your throat out so I should do just fine in a room filled with deafening music and hormone-ridden teenagers," I said, sarcasm dripping off every word even though I didn't need it.

"Sarcasm: the last refuge of modest and chaste-souled people when the privacy of their soul is coarsely and intrusively invaded" Raphael quoted and I gave him credit. Mostly for knowing something of anyone called Fyodor Dostoevsky.

"I have often wished I had time to cultivate modesty... But I am too busy thinking about myself." I knew someone said that of importance. Of course I remembered good ol' Fyodor but not the guy who wrote _The Observer_.

The sounds of music got louder as the streets became more and more like they belonged in old photographs. I was sure that any human would be able to hear a dull melody out of the blaring music but to me it was as if the speakers were right next to my ears and I quickly occupied my mind with how many cobble stones there were in the street before I could follow Raphael through the door.

Fashion had recycled itself once more and nothing seemed to have changed except everything was shorter. And the lights were brighter than the ones I looked up on the internet. I continue to believe Google is a saint and that I was totally overdressed for the occasion. For God's sake it was a school function!

We have one good school in Volterra. Here was my picture perfect purgatory but seeing that I had been living in hell, purgatory was a three star hotel. I wrinkled my nose at the sharp smell of alcohol, well alcohol or anti-freeze, maybe a combination of the two. Raphael didn't seem to mind as he dragged me through the school halls and my shoes skid on the linoleum tiles.

It was a good thing that the undead don't have a conscience or else I would be strongly compelled to turn on my heels. Any living part of me that had a conscience was being blocked out because by a new found vindictive personality.

Fashion had recycled itself once again recycled itself and the clothes looked exactly like they did thirty years ago. Well, much shorter, but basically the same. Nothing really had changed since I was born. America was still at war, gas prices were at record highs, but Volterra just stood still, a paradise compared to what was going on around the globe.

"Let's dance!" screamed Raphael over the blaring music and I smiled, the atmosphere getting to me. I slipped my hair out and shook it out before I joined him on the lit dance floor and applied everything I learned of music videos and YouTube.

* * *

**EPOV**

Today was one of the days we didn't talk about. Everyone had seen it coming on the calendar and my family tried to keep their thoughts under control though I didn't have to be a mind reader to know what they were thinking.

It was her birthday. We tried to ignore it like any other day of the year but every so often an image of my daughter's curly hair and bright eyes would pop into someone's head. Bella was quieter these days and I did everything in my power to make her feel better but the truth was I ached as terribly as her.

"Edward," Alice said quietly. "We have to go to school."

Yes, that was the plan. We were to do everything as normally as possible which included school, conversation, and false normalcy. It was tiring and I worried for Bella, she hardly spoke two words to me except for the occasional "I love you" but for the most part she just tried to cry.

Emmett appeared to be in much gloom but hid it well through a faux smile and some jokes I was moderately sure he had taken off candy wrappers. Part of his despair had to be Rosalie who had succeed in masking her sorrow with sarcasm and bitter remarks about everything that annoyed her, including fingerprints on the walls and the angle of napkins and the placement of the utensils on top of them.

Alice, for the most part, kept up the moral but that was because Jasper was in the closest thing to an emotional hell. Vampires can't commit suicide for obvious reasons but he was certainly close.

The Oregon house was certainly more modern than the one back in Washington, it was completely cube based to never remind Bella of our lives back there and everything we left behind. I don't think any of us could get of Renesme but least of all Bella. I felt a very human chill fall on me when I made my way into the garage. Emmett would probably drive to insure I didn't crash with everything on my mind.

The seven of us got into two cars and if anyone asked why we were so depressed we would just lie and say it had to do with the upcoming date of the terrorist attacks that happened 32 years ago. It was complicated and I could only hold my darling Bella and whisper words of console that I didn't even hear.

"We have a math test," Bella muttered into my sleeve. "I didn't study."

"You're a vampire about to acclimate a vast archive of knowledge that you have an eternity to make." said Emmett. "It's okay if you don't ace every test."

"I think you're using acclimate in the wrong context."

"See Bella, your know-it-all husband can cheat, get the answers off some dork four rooms away," he wasn't even looking at the road now. "The rest of us are just left behind to suffer in the dark world of not mind reading. Do you think I get a 100 on every test? No, and that's because I'm trying to appear to be normal and keep my average in the human ability range."

Bella cracked a smile so I didn't complete a terrible grammar failure. Emmett smiled satisfied, I took in a deep breath and let my brother park crookedly in the school parking lot and internally I groaned. I missed my Volvo, admittedly, but it was just a car and it was part of Washington it stayed in the past. Alice was more upset about her Porsche so I let it slide. Today was going to be a long day.

* * *

**Alice****!!!!**

I was seriously running out of songs to sing loudly and mildly off-key in my head. You can only make up so many verses for _Smells Like Teen Spirit_ before you want to shoot yourself. How many freaking times does the guy have to say hello to us? We get it!

"Focus Alice," Edward murmured.

"Force=Mass x Acceleration" I answered the question before Mrs. Lynd could ask me. "Oh yeah, I knew what you were going to ask me. And I think you and your husband are going to have a rather intriguing conversation on what you did last night."

"Alice," Edward warned. "What did I tell you about seafood? You know it give you bad dreams."

"I'm edgy, **deal with it!**" I got up and glared at Edward only to realize everyone else in the class was staring at me. I sunk back into my chair and continued to shoot the death glare at Joseph Killam because he was the closest person to me who wouldn't realize why I was in such a mood.

"Someone's a little emotional," Sarah Conaway whispered behind me.

"I HEARD THAT!"

The bell rang, well, buzzed was a better adjective ever since bells became obsolete ten years ago. I hurried off to _la clase de espanol_ even though I was fluent. And I knew about the pop quiz today. And that Em would get spoon- _la cuchara_ mixed up with knife- _el cuchillo_ and would be apparently having soup off a knife. Good luck with that.

Bella was depressed and we were doing little to cheer her up. We totally ran out of ideas last year when we went to adventure land. I pondered what would happen if I took her to a shooting range...apparently it would relieve stress. I walked as fast as I could while still appearing human and struggling with three inch high stiletto heel boots. Uggs were _so _last decade.

There were few things that annoyed me as much as the Spanish classroom. It was painted this wannabe beige color with green linoleum tiles didn't exactly look blend. I sat next to Bella, it was the only class I had with her that didn't have anyone else of the family in it. Jasper was supposed to be in this class but I had a feeling he would cut, Bells had been throwing him kind of out of whack this week.

"I'm becoming Jasper," I told her brightly.

"Over emotional and slightly depressing?" she looked up with a fake smile. "Okay I'll stop faking."

"Come on, it's just today until we hit the weekend," I tried to brighten her up. "You know what that means. Camping, hunting, baseball, Emmett failing in a game of truth or dare and getting attacked by a turkey..."

"There aren't any wild turkeys in Oregon, are there?"

"The future is not set in stone my dear sister," I said as the bell buzzed again and I took my seat. Rosalie walked in five minutes into the period wearing thigh high leather boots and a black Chanel jacket with gold trim. I didn't have to see the future to know that Emmett was walking into his class at around the same time.

"Miss-" he didn't really mind, my teacher, that some super model had just walked into the classroom. Needless to say he didn't press her to get out.

"Rosy, is there something you want to tell me?" I asked when she just stood in front of my desk; the male population had their gazes locked on her which wasn't at _all _conspicuous.

"You haven't, you know...?"

"Um..." if I had a clue about what she was talking about I would have answered. Rosalie made up her mind to tell me so a quick vision flashed in front of me that she was going to ask if I had any visions about Nessie. "ROSE! What the hell!"

"You're certainly subtle today," she muttered. "Just asking because, well," she looked back at the class who was still paying more attention to her than our teacher trying to go on with her lesson. "Edward's has a hunch."

"Edward always has a hunch!" Rose was right; subtle was SOOOO not my thing.

"Stop it both of you!" Bella now stood up and everyone, even the teacher, stared at us. "I know what you're talking about! How many times do you think I've wanted to search the world? Run across the country, swim to Italy, walk up to Aro and demand that he tell me why he-" she broke down and fell back into her seat, she would have been crying if she knew how.

"Bella," I tried to comfort her.

"What's wrong, what did you do?" Edward ordered at me as he walked into the classroom.

"You don't belong in this room," my teacher tried to shoo him away but Edward just pushed past him.

"Stop it, just stop." Her voice was so small that I barley caught it. "She's gone, dead, and I'm not. And it's my fault. I just have to live with it."

"What's going on?" Jasper and Emmett both came in.

"Please, come in!" Mr. Moriliss opened his arms in exaggeration. "Everyone else is! Are there any other Cullens you would like to tell me about!?"

I could feel everyone calming down at Jasper's presence. Thank God because it would keep the rest of the students from questioning why we were all huddled around our sister who was dry sobbing.

A very long day indeed.

* * *

It was about 8 A.M. and I had all but passed out on a small table. I groaned every small sound too loud and the sunlight starting to shine through musty gym windows was too bright.

Sunlight?

"Dammit!" I screamed jumping out of my seat, losing my balance and falling to the floor. I pushed fallen streamers away from my face and scrambled onto my feet. Okay, truth be told, I had never actually been out in sunlight but it didn't seem to do anything to anyone when filtered through a "Not good, not good..."

"What's wrong?" I wasn't the only one still left passed out on the abandoned school grounds. Raphael put his arm around me and remembered what I did last night. I groaned clutching my head as a migraine cued itself in. "Didn't you enjoy yourself last night?"

"God, don't bring up last night," I pushed him away brusquely. Believe me, it was a great night, I didn't think it was physically possible for me to drink so much and my memory circuit to still work but then again I was me, living proof of the impossible. "And trust me, I wasn't the only one enjoying myself last night. Isn't that right Raphael?"

"It was a party, at least let me take you home."

I snorted. "No way in hell." I mentally brought up a layout of the city and factored in the sun's position. I was subconsciously planning the quickest route out of the school and to the nearest airport which was Ampugnano. "Look, you're a nice guy and I like you a lot."

Lie.

"You don't want to get involved with my family," I told him flatly.

"Please, this is Italy, everyone has a crazy family," he waved it off and took me by the arm. "Nessie, I'm trying to do something nice for you, just let me take you home and tell your parents that it was all my fault. What's the worst they could do?"

"Best case scenario is that they'll cut you up into tiny pieces while you're still alive and burn them in front of you."

"That's a little scary," Raphael said and I pulled my arm from him while he was distracted.

"Wanna hear the worst case scenario?"

"I don't believe that will be necessary. I find that demonstration is much more effective," I snapped around to see Alec and Caius in traditional black robes and I was **not **in the mood to see them right now. Caius was eying Raphael in disappointment. "Honestly Serafinda, what were you thinking?"

"Serafinda?" Alec squinted. We normally got along, it was Jane I had issues with. "Your hair looks terrible."

"Caius," I growled. "Leave. Now."

"Is this your family?" asked Raphael. "You match," he looked at the black robes.

"Not funny," I said looking at him.

"Um, Sera?" Alec interrupted. "Who is he? He doesn't smell very good."

"Hey!"

"Shut up," Caius ordered. "Serafinda, you will come back with us immediately. If you do not come peacefully you will be captured and treated like a captive for you will have deified a direct order from your master, Aro."

Ooh, SO threatening...

"Nessie, what's this about?" Raphael looked rather pale. "What does he mean, 'your master?'"

"Or what if I refused to be taken?" I wanted to sound as if I wasn't at all intimidated but I still took a few steps away from Caius. "I know Alec will follow you on every order, no offence but you kinda do. What will you do Caius? Kill me?" I almost laughed. "Like my parents? Like Jacob? Or God knows how many others, but I swear to you Caius, if you so much as lay a hand on me I will personally burn you in pieces."

"What is with you people and burning each other?" Raphael asked.

"Oh why the hell do I even bother?" I asked myself when I saw Alec's fog inching closer to me. I looked terrified to Raphael who stood in ignorance. "Running would be a good idea."

"Brilliant!" I didn't think he understood my urgency at the creeping fog but when Caius took out a blade the size of my torso, Raphael bolted.

When we reached the entrance we split up. It took precious moments for my eyes to adjust to the bright sunlight that I had never been out it. I had to stick to the shadows which was easy to do because the buildings in Voletrra were classic but still amazingly tall. The only problem I was having was that the moment I reached El Borgo San Lazzaro I was screwed because there was no cover to help me.

I ran through Volterra because my newly found life depended on it. I didn't stand too much of a chance against Caius, in fact, it was a miracle I hadn't been caught by then. Unfortunately my thoughts brought about Murphy's Law and I literally ran into Caius a block away from the market place.

Figuratively, I was cornered. I had a wall to one side, a massive amount of people to another, and a hell of a lot of sunlight blocking the only path Caius wasn't taking up.

"It was a shame," Caius said darkly. "You would have liked to hear his neck snap. But that should keep Alec busy for a while; she won't come looking for you. So I have you all to my self."

He took a step towards me and I tried to back away. I kept stepping back until I hit the stone wall. I looked up in vain to see there was no way I could climb it and even if I could I had heard all the myths about vampires shriveling up like a raisin in the sun.

"Any last words?" he unsheathed his knife and a very human chill ran down my spine.

The cold sparked a memory. I had the worst timing in the world! I mean, come on, I'm about to die here and _now_ I get to unlock the secrets to my past? Damn irony. I heard Caius's knife again, this time against the ancient wood sheath we used for "special occasions" i.e. dramatic deaths. I kept my eyes closed tight and I watched the memory from someone else's eyes.

"Oh you have **GOT** to be kidding me!" I screamed when I figured out what it was about.

--  
**sorry, i typed this up on a school comp trying because the laptop is over heating. i wish you all belated holidays but i got it in before valentine's day, right? dont bag on my grammar until you find me a beta.  
-jace**


	3. unexpected help

**bear with me. it's certainly been a while and the gods know my grammar sucks.  
i own nothing**

**the top 10 reason's why fairy tales wouldn't work out in New York**

I'm facing my death here and I'm about to have a flashback. Way to go God! I have all of 5 seconds to live and you're divulging all of my life's secrets **_now?!_**Got the meaning of life or the purpose of Stone Hedge you want to tell me?

I shivered and wondered if Caius would let me live through this memory before he cut me up and burned me. Probably not, he'd let me live through it so I knew what I was missing out on.

_I had much more simple thoughts, I was hungry, rather thirsty but I didn't know the difference. My hair was being pulled in every which direction and I squirmed against it._

_"Stop it!" Rosalie laughed. I recognized her voice and my body calmed down instead of jumping with the anxiety I knew I wanted to feel. This got me more agitated but I was quickly mellowed out once more._

_"You're precious," she turned me around and tapped me on the nose. "You look beautiful darling," she swiveled around the computer chair we were sitting in so I could see my reflection in the mirror. Well, the vampire certainly knew how to dress hair even if she lacked the ability to understand body language._

_"You do know you've been a pain in my neck," she whispered. "Now don't tell you're dad I said that. He'll be all noble and he has every right to be, I would want to keep you to myself too. Something tells me you're going to be some serious trouble in Alice's foggy future so I want you to hold on to this."_

_She put a small silver chain around my waist. "It's really a necklace but Bella won't know the difference and Edward will be too love struck to care. It's just in case you get lost. You know, fly your way back home."_

_I looked at it and started to play with it. To any intelligent being it would look like a silver belt around a tiny child that had a wing hanging down on the left side. To me it was a new toy and I sat bouncing it up and down and giggling. Rosalie laughed softly and handed me a crystal that caught the light and shone. That explains the obsession with shiny things...._

I snapped out of the memory with a jolt that gave me a head ache and left voices in my head saying things too low for me to catch. I shook them away and grumbled, trying to walk away before I walked square into Caius's chest. Damn his height.

Ok, do you know that when you're about to die the weirdest, most pointless things go through your mind? Well there I was, pinned by Caius facing death by capture and sentence by Aro or death by monologue. Either way I wasn't going to enjoy any of my last day in Italy and for some obscure reason I was thinking about how I never got to take a biology exam.

"Any last words?" he asked with that grim smile on his face.

"Yeah, did you at any one moment like me?" I asked him.

"What?" he started but stopped. "That's a serious question?"

"Yes," I told him angrily as he looked at me in brief disbelief. I looked at the knife and then back at his face. "Honest answer, did you?"

"Do you even remember what I got you on your sixth birthday?" his shoulders relaxed and I smirked.

"No." I said flatly before swinging one of my legs up and kicking him in the nose. While he was falling back I grabbed the sword-knife-cutlass thing and slammed him against the wall. This would have been the perfect time to had said "oh how the tables have turned" but it didn't seem appropriate now that it was clichéd.

He didn't look surprised or even unhappy. In fact, if anything he looked proud. Some girls were Daddy's Little Princess; I was the Pocket-Sized Traitor Killing Machine. Yes, I could completely see why he would be beaming in pride. It didn't make any difference that he had taught me enough to overpower him in my feeble state of mortality, the fact was that he killed my family and it was only fair for me to do the same.

I had the blade positioned perfectly against his chest. He palms faced me, spread out at his waist in innocence. His expression changed once more to entertainment and I adopted the confused one.

"Do it," he challenged. "You can, you have to."

I thought of how he had done the same thing to my beloved family and saw my hand tremor so I knew Caius felt it. He did what any one of us would have done if another hesitated and tried to pull a move on me. Even though my reflexes were no where near as heightened as his I still was able to stab the knife hard enough to pin his shoulder into the wall. He pulled it out in agony, the first real pain he had felt in years and marveled at the deep scarlet of his own blood.

He sheathed the sword without cleaning off his own blood. And Caius's right arm hung dead at his size and blood streamed down from his shoulder. I couldn't have felt worse. I missed, he was three feet in front of me and I missed his damn heart!

Caius took a step toward me, and another, and another until he had actually passed me. I stepped to the side, the back of Caius feet bordering sunlight but his eyes hazed forward. He took one more step forward and turned around to face me. His eyes closed and his skin became faceted and gleamed in the sunlight like a prism. The only imperfection was from the wound I had caused that still bled scarlet.

"This isn't your life," he told me. "Alec will meet you at the airport."

I could only stare for that moment before he barked for me to leave. I was still pondering weather it was a trick that the sunlight had not killed him but I took a leap of faith and ran into the marketplace.

I took my longest strides and ducked under baskets and kiosks and slid through a carpet dealer's shipment, grabbing a set of sunglasses and a scarf off shop displays. I was sure some part of me would feel guilty for stealing but it was a bit odd to see some girl running around in once expensive clothing that hung in rags who smelt like she lived under a bridge.

It was the same human part of me that told me hot wiring a Yamaha motorcycle that reeked tourist was wrong. It was a good thing the moral-lacking vampire part of me overruled. Let's see, if Ampugnano was about 54 kilometers from here I could get there in 54 minutes if I drove at a normal speed. This meant if I tested my reflexes by driving 80+ km/h then I would get there even faster.

Then I picture my frail body plastered against the side of some car. Not the best way to die.... Ah well, Aro's going to kill me anyway. Might as well be able to chose of at least blame it on myself during my self-righteous quest to find out who the hell I was. Too bad a certain someone who shall no longer be named killed my parents so this will be exponentially more difficult.

I revved the motor bringing up a mental map of the terrain. If Caius and Alec were pulling for me then I could swing Corin, Heidi, and Marcus easy. Everyone else would be after my blood. Demetri was a major threat, just like that car barreling down the road toward me.

Quickly turning I took a deep breath and gagged. Stupid bugs. Note to self: buy helmet and/or surgeon's mask. I had to do that and seriously clean off my sunglasses. I was still on the Via Giosuè Carducci which I had to follow about 13 km. It was a really beautiful piece of pavement but there was major traffic (somehow, I didn't know how, but it was Aro's fault) so I was weaving through lanes gunning the engine until I thought it would burn out.

The vampire of me took control and I zoned out, trying not to gag at car exhaust. It was weird, I had seen all these things in pictures but nothing could describe the feeling of the wind blowing my hair back or the sun warming the very core of my body.

Soon enough I was turning off to the airport. I didn't bother parking my new motorcycle, I kind of just let it drop next to a taxi and the driver was yelling at me in Italian before I snapped my bug covered sunglasses in a trash can and walked through.

Alec wasn't at all hard to find. She was giddy, jumping around at every noise which meant that she was practically vibrating. When she spotted me she whipped off her own pair of shades and made sure it was me that was alive.

"What the hell took so long?" she hissed.

"Traffic," I muttered. "I stabbed Caius, tell him I'm sorry and if this is a trick you can both burn in hell."

"I'm sure Aro will arrange that last thing," she fussed around her bag for some papers. "Ok, this is your passport," she shoved a red pamphlet at me. "This is you're wallet. It has about five hundred dollars and your flight ticket in it, when you land in New York you should go to the nearest ATM and withdraw the maximum amount you can for these cards."

"Small bills, I know," I got in, shoving them into my red wallet. She was speeding at a human pace but it was hard for me to keep up. "My name is Erin?"

"I was short on time!" she snapped. "Do you know how hard it is to type in these god forsaken taxis? Anyway, you're going to need these contacts," she handed me a small green and white circular box. "They're blue but you're eyes will turn the purple, hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," I put them in without washing my hands and saw them semi-distort the world around me.

"I packet like 8 pairs so if they burn up from the acid in your eyes you'll have to change them," Jane gave me her backpack. "Clothes. Normal American clothes, please pardon their terrible taste but it's what will blend you in. Oh, and there is a cell phone with numbers for me, Caius, and Athenodora. We're pulling for you!"

She gave me two light kisses on the cheeks and practically pushed me through security.

"Oh, one more thing!" she shoved it into the bin that went through the X-ray machine and I hurried to retrieve it. "Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks!" I yelled back at her but Alec was already gone. I rolled my eyes but I was willing to bet anything that she heard me. Aro would believe Alec because she was one of his favorites, like me. I was also willing to bet that she could act like she was totally pissed at me for leaving.

I looked down at the plastic tray on the conveyer belt and smiled. Rosalie's necklace. I clasped it behind my neck and looked at my reflection in the shine of the x-ray. My eyebrows lowered and I quickly took it off, I was right, the single wing's imperfection wasn't an imperfection at all.

It was an address.

--

**ok, really got to go here people. anyone who has read this far is obligated to review. if you flame my grammar link me to a beta please, didn't have time to proof read.**

:)

-jace


	4. square ribbons

**cause i'm writing a million stories you can be mad if they're ooc. i seriously had a creativity collapse and used my own name. don't worry, i'm minor.**

**i dont own the characters but at this rate i'm going to drive them into family therapy.**

**titles are for squares. so is exageration but that's just a personal oppinion.  
[_]**

I was not having a good time on the plane. The bathroom at Ampugnano had been, by far, the smallest room I've ever been in. My wardrobe was bigger than the stall for Christ's sake! Not to mention I still smelt like cheap alcohol, coffee, and the bottle of purfumes I practically washed my hair in at the airport gift shop. Alec was an evil mastermind. She was a midget and she scared the crap out of me.

Because I was unlikely to have any fashion sense she had taken the liberty of picking out my clothes for me. In fact, I had all of two outfits, counting the one I was wearing. The hard part about picking out clothes when you were a vampire was that you knew that two seemingly identical colored shirts are, in fact, completely different shade of a color and makes you feel like a ragamuffin whenever you put something on. For my own sake Alec only packed black clothing.

I looked in the mirror and smoothed out my black shirt. Yeah, way to go Alec, looking like a prostitute did wonders for my low profile.

Fortunaly for my fashion challenged self Alec had left me the address and code for a safty deposite box in New York. Actually, a lot of safty deposit boxes which hopefully had clothes, apartment keys, nearest hunting grounds in New York City....

I twisted Rosalie's necklace around my fingers while I waited in my seat on the small airplane. I had nearly no baggage so I was able to get on quickly. All was quiet until an American family boarded the plane in Hawaiian looking shirts and loafers. There was a girl about my age, her six year old brother, an oblivious mother who was quieting her son, and a father who just didn't want to hear it. I wanted to laugh when the girl rolled her eyes saying that they were embarrassing her. She sat down right neck to me and pushed her knees agaisnt the back of the seat directly in front of her where an elderly gentleman sat.

"What are you looking at?" she glared at me.

"You're exasperated," I pointed out. "Which is rude and annoying."

"You sound like my mother," she rolled her eyes.

"One day they're going to get stuck crossed," I smiled. "So what brings you to New York?"

"Why do you care?" if I slapped her would i kill her? Maybe brutally damage her but it would be worth it. "I'm going back home. I just came back from the worst vacation in the history of the world with my stupid family."

"Did you go to Volterra?" I inquired.

"Yeah, bor-ring," she sung. "Why? Where are you going?"

"I lived in Volterra," I told her but I had to agree, it was really boring. "What's your name?"

"Vivian Crowley-Mallory," I almost expected a _what's it to you?_ but instead I felt a sharp buzz at my side and I nearly jumped out of my seat. The song "Right Round" from the 80's playing from my side bag.

"Are you going to get that?" sneered Vivian. I looked at her like she was crazy as I searched for the origin of the sound. Oh, it was my phone. I flipped it open and held it to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked.

_"Who is this?"_ I heard Alec ask. It was hard to distinguish her voice over the static of the phone.

"Renesme Cullen," I said.

_"No!"_ she screamed and I held the phone away from my ear. _"You're supposed to say Erin Sax. I know it's the shortest name in the history of short names but it's _your_ name! What if I was someone else? Huh?"_

"Then I would have said that you have the wrong number," I said carefully. "Come on Alec, I knew it was you."

_"Yeah but what if I were some kind of vampire that could mimik voices?"_

"If I close the phone do you stop talking?" I asked. "I'm kinda new to the whole technology thing."

_"Not my fault you've been living in a cave your whole life,"_ I could practically see her rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, it kinda is!" I shouted. "When you said that you would call me I thought that you mean, like, later. As in, after I landed. What do I do when I land anyway?"

_"I called a car service for you. Duh,"_ Alec said. _"The car will take you to a bank, we use the same guy all the time so he'll know where to go. At the bank you take the saftey deposite box. It's a reserve for clothes so there wasn't much room left. I made sure there was a couple thousand dollars in there for you. Use cash all the time. Did you find the adress on the necklace?"_

"I'm human, not blind."

_"Sorry, force of habit. Get the first flight going out. And don't use this phone too often because it isn't exactly legal."_

"Disposable cells, got it," I nodded.

_"Great. Caius says sorry by the way. Oh yeah, and almost everyone's after you so your going to have to be careful."_

"What about Demetri, he's the only one I care about." I didn't have to say it was odd that Caius was appologizing for me stabbing him.

_"Caius says he can distract him but he can make no promises,"_ Alec was chooseing her words carefully because she didin't want me to explode. _"Jane wants to kill you."_

"Jane always wants to kill me," I whined. "Can't you talk her out of it, you are her sister."

_"I like my life,"_ she said simply i.e. she wasn't taking Jane on. _"I have to go now. Just be careful, Aro's out for the kill."_

I gulped, I had seen first hand him make a vampire beg on their knees for a swift death and he look them in the eye and give them their last wish. I shoved the memories away. "Wait, Alec!" I wanted to keep her on the line.

_"I already scanned all the pictures of your family and sent them to your cell. Oh, and I put a recharger in the saftey deposit box!"_ she said quickly before hanging up.

And that is why I loved her.

"Hey, uh, Vivian, how do you get photos off of you cell phone?" I asked turning around but Vivan was gone. In her place was stunningly beautiful vampire giving me a confused look.

"What are you?" she asked polietly.

There was something about her that just seemd wrong. It wasn't the earbuds to an ancient iPod wrapped around her hand or the penciled scars all up her arms to her shoulderblades. Her evergreen shirt looked more like a ribbon wrapped endlessly around her torso and around her shoulder or her cold red eyes.

She eyed me with a confused level of curiocity. Layered, long brown hair was pulled back with a pair of over-sized sunglasses that rested on top of her head. She brushed a stray strand behind one ear revealing twisted wire ear rings and an engadgement ring.

"What are you?" she asked again but eventually her eyes narrow. Her jaw clentched and she hissed back at me, "Volturri."

She said it like a curse word and recoiled from me. She crinkled her nose and I blinked back. Thin finger rounded themselves into a fist and she gripped the armrest of the airseat so hard when we took off that I thought she would dent it.

"No," I told her slowly, chosing my words carefully to prevent any further misunderstandings.

"You reek of them," she said with a new reached hostility. "Do you remember me, little girl? I'm the one you told to 'run along and deal with it,' what, were my problems not good enough for you? I only had to run for a few years while a _genocide_ of my people took place!"

"I assure you I have no clue what you're talking about," I told her now scared the way she was looking at me. I didn't like that she called me 'little girl' but bringing that up might not be too bright. "I'm not part of the Volturri."

"Why did he choose you huh?" she asked, poison seeping off her words. "Did Aro love how human you looked, the fact that I can swear I hear a heartbeat out of you? Gentle looks, familiar face. You almost look like the Cullens but you're not a nanometer of their nobility you pathetic little infant."

"Cullens?" I snapped up in interest, letting the infant remark slide. For now. "What about the Cullens, where are they?"

"Are you even listening to me?" she asked banging her head into the seat in fron tof her so the man slipt a soda on himself. "I waited how many years to do this monolouge and you are barely even paying attention. Now that's just cruel."

"Yeah, whatever," I waved it off. "You were saying something about the Cullens, like as in Edward and Bella."

"The attention span just keeps getting shorter," she grumbled. "Yeah, the Cullen family. You know, the tall doctor one, his wife, the small house, supermodel girlfriend, short hyper physic, emo spouse, over-obsessing brother, klutzy human... they really aren't mistakable."

"Yeah them!" I shouted triumphantly giving her a huge hug. "thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!"

"You're in the personal bubble..." she pulled away. "Seeing that you aren't Volturi I can't rant on about your explotation of trust. So this trip was completely pointless! Joy."

"I'm Nessie Cullen," I told her and she jumped back in fear of another hug.

"Jace Grentelli," she held out her hand tentatively and i shook it hard. "Totally related to Emmett," she said rubbing her shoulder. "But you're oddly..."

"Clumsey, cute, young, hyper?"

"Short," she settled on. "Like you would be considered a midget in thrity-two states back home." She shrugged. Why is it I always sit next to the obnoxious people? "So are you going to try and find your parents kid?"

"Yeah, are they alive?" I asked only looking for only one answer. I knew they were alive, they had to be.

"They're all dead," she said and my heart fell. "But if you aren't using technical terms then yeah, they're still killing animals. I prefer the hunting ground of the Bronx if you asked me."

"That wasn't funny!" I smacked her and it hurt a little. Stupid half human body. "So do you know where they are?"

"Jared might," she shrugged. "But you're going to have to come back to Manhatten with me."

"If you live in Manhatten why do you hunt in the Bronx?" I asked side-tracked. They were next to each other but why not just hunt in Manhatten, it's so much less to walk.

"A wise man once told me not to," she smiled and I had a feeling that wise man was my father. "I really live in Brooklyn though. I just _adore_ the traffic. It gies me multiple approtunites to piss off cab drivers."

"You take a cab to go hunting?"

"Only on Wednesdays," why does this girl not make any sense? I was going to put up with it for now but if she started taking up book binding then I was hiting the road on my own. Jace looked back at me still curious and i wiped my face with the back okf my hand, did I have blood on it?

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked leaning in the opposite direction.

"Nothing," she shrugged. "It just-" she stopped and shook her head. "Nothing, it isn't important."

Important enough for her to mention it. Then again I could Jace didn't really have a mind filter. Whatever she thougt just came out of her mouth which could be both annoying and helpful. I pulled my gloves tighter and looked to Jace who was now listening to music, pretending to be sleeping.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she muttered after a few minutes of silence.

"Why?"

"It's notlike I'm aiding in the escape of Aro's more prized possession," she rolled her eyes and turned her music up. "Plus, if he doesn't kill me first Bella's going for my throat."

* * *

**i found a lovely box at an antique dealer a few weeks ago and when i opened it i was pleasantly surprised to see that it was holding bones. yes, bones. it always has to be bones....**

**please review.  
jace**


	5. left turn now

**your lucky addy got me to update. serious creativity death on names so here it is. i tried to keep Bob and Joe out of this one.  
disclaimer: not mine.**

**my life seems to need a one-hit-wonder boyband soundtrack. do half-human ears still bleed?**

So...here I was. Trying to relaz on the waiting chairs of JFK Airport which Jace was for some reason calling Idlewild even though I knew it was LaGuardia nowadays. I was trying to lay across two of the chairs to save Jace a seat but there was this annoying armrest int he way that was plastic and totally uncomfortable. I was seriously considering ripping that out when Jace lifted my legs and yanked me up by my wrists.

"Come on Cullen girl," she said suddenly upbeat, giving me a thumbs up. I grumbled that her mood swings were really getting on my nerves and that I was human and therfore had breakable bones. "Details, details," she waved me off. "And it isn't like I was trying to hurt you. If I wanted to hurt you I would have crashed the plane."

"Because _that's_ an easy thing to do," I rolled my eyes and she grabbed my arm and started walking me through the twisted airport.

"I know you're a bit slow but this is borderline ridiculous," she said her blood red eyes attracking no more attention than my belt buckle. "And I don't just mean physically."

"Are you always this rude?" I asked actually keeping up with her pace. Jace didn't pack any bags and was carrying mine because it matched her shirt better. It could be that I was in a bad mood because I hadn't gone to a normal, non-alcohol induced sleep in twenty-four hours, or the jet lag, or the fact that Jace was acting like a five year old on a sugar rush but it wasn't looking like a good day.

She rushed through the airport, nearly tearing my arm off my body and into security. They made us put our cell phones, Jace's iPod, my necklace, and about six of the bracelets Jace was wearing through an x-ray. I went through and set it off with Rosalie's necklace and I quickly shoved it through a bin.

Jace faced a little more trouble.

She must have set off the walk-through metal decetor off four times before they started checking her in the plate glass cubical that everyone could see. She held out her arms and the hand-hold went off around her forehead a few times more.

"I have a metal plate in my head," she said calmly.

"Why? We converted to sluminum decades ago?" the technition asked forgetting protocol monentarily. "I mean what happened?"

"I fell," she said. "Bad. I have a note in my pocket but if you think I'm going to pull out a bomb then you can just ask my friend," she nodded her head towards me. "She was there when I fell down the stairs."

Of the Crystler Building? What the heck did that girl do to herself? No one on the face of the earth, with the possible exception of my mother, was that clumsey. Jace rolled her eyes for the fifth time that day and pulled a note out of the pocket of her cargo pants. Some people would ask how a dark green ribbon shirt goes with beigh cargo pants but they just haven't met Jace.

They put the note through some computer program and there was a triumphant _ding_ before they let an irritated Jace pass. She gave me her bag which had now been searched cortesty of her and we continued down the airport way.

"Did you really fall down the stairs to get a metal plate in your head?" I asked and she retrain her air personality.

"I don't have a metal plate in my head," she laughed. "I was shot though," she pointed with two fingers a little behind her temple. "I guess they just didn't have time to dig out the bullet."

And I thought my story was weird!

I found a sign that said **ERIN SAX** on it and brough Jace over to an over-excited man with a toupe and ill-fitting suit. As much as I love and fear Alec she just couldn't get me a cute driver, could she? Are they really that hard to come by?

"Erin Sax?" he asked almost afraid of me.

"That's what it says on my passport," I told him gleefully. Lies of omition, I would make Aro rue the day he taught me about those. "Are you the guy who's supposed to take me to the bank?"

"No, I have specific instructions to take you to the bank-"

"Well I'm here to over-rule those directions," Jace cut in. "I'm Violet Owpurr and it would be in your best interest to take me to this adress," she handed him a black business card with a white star on the front and he nodded.

"Violet Owpurr?" I asked sceptial where the hell she pulled that one out from.

"Jane uses it as an anagram for 'Volturi Power; it's her idea of a joke," Jace shrugged it off, taking a dolar out of her pocket and putting into a vending machine and keying in a package of goldfish. "Jane and I knew eachother once upon a time."

Those four words were nearly as annoying as those three i never got to here in my relationship.

"That's insightful,' I admitted. "So what's on the card?"

"The best resturante in New York City."

We finally got outside and the smell of gasoline, sigar smoke, and all around air polluntion hit me like a brick wall. If it wasn't for the oh-relectless Jace I would still be standing there but she pulled me into a black 2010 Nissan with tinted windows and undercarriage lights. The lights were purple, it was all I saw before I started coughing up a lung.

"You get used to it," said the driver. He was jumpy but I could understand why, Jace did look like she was ready to commit murder. Um...maybe it was me who looked like the homosital one. I wanted a shower really badly, more so when Jace shoved me into the backseat of a car and slid in gracefully as the car started to pull away.

There was something soothing about being in a car. It was putting me to sleep very quickly. I might have been getting terribly car sick and this was my way of coping with it but it didn't matter, I needed my sleep. I was starting to drift into sleep when I felt the car go over a very large bump.

"Sorry!" Jace said when I glared at the driver. "It won't happen again. What you need right now would be a calm, tranquil surrounding that won't be interupted by any further outbursts."

I once again put my head against the glass and waited to fall asleep to the lull of traffic. Once again I was in the grips of sleep.

"You son of a bitch I said left!" Jace screamed banging the driver's seat. "Were you born incompinent or is this an evolving condition from your degenerate lifestyle? Make the next left or I will cut your heart out!"

And there goes peace and tranquility....

**please please please review. it's short and just a filler but i wanted to get something up before 2 months.  
-j**


	6. another boring 3000 word chptr

**not mine.**

**ADDY UPDATE! dont ask.**

**if you haven't figure it out by now this is going to be a pointless chapter and you can just  
skip the titles before either emmett does something unintelligent or carlisle makes a  
fascinating observation that has nearly nothing to do with this story.**

"Sunshine," I felt someone shake me softly. "Oh sunshine, it's time to wake up..."

"Go away," I groaned.

"And I wondered why I gave up sleep for immortality," I heard a very distinct voice sigh. The car smelt terribly of gasoline and I could hear the outside world from my head leaning against the glass window. "If you don't show some signs of life in the next three seconds I'm sending you off and not telling you anything about your-"

"Parents!" I yelled bolting upright and nearly pushing her out the opposite side of the car. "Faster woman!"

"Hold on, let me pay the stupid driver," she got out of my way and broke out a money clip.

I looked up and gasped. I've said it before, I'll say it again. This place was pure magic, something straight out of a story book and beyond any imagining I had done in my room from old pictures or black and white movies. I remembered the first movie I ever saw by my own choice, _An Affair to Remember_, I had pictures of the Empire State Building on my wall for the next ten weeks until Aro made me take it down for the periodic table of elements.

The building here, I could stand on the roof and touch the sky. They weren't the sleek buildings of modern New York but they were old and beautiful, worn down by the nature of the city. If I could have lived anywhere I think I would have chosen New York, the air was just familiar. I hadn't been here long but I wanted to stay. After I found my parents. Why weren't they looking for me anyway? What kind of people don't look for their own little girl?

"Nessie!" Jace called as the car sped off. "The son of a gun just conned me out of twenty bucks but I disconnected his brakes so we're even."

"You're a very charming individual," I told her. "It's a wonder you're still single."

"Married actually," she twinkled her left hand and a modest engagement ring sparkled. "Technically I'm engaged because I never got around to having the wedding. Maybe next year, I hear the weather in Japan is wonderful when the season turns..." she trailed off leading me into a small book shop with the name Celia scrawled elegantly in faded gold lettering.

The book store was quiet but not quiet enough to be a trap. I had already counted the window and exits, too many to be an ambush by any sane being. Jace was whistling a tune merrily that sounded like a patriotic song that should have been hummed with much more conviction. I couldn't put my finger on it but it sounded liked a mix of _I Kissed a Girl_ and _Battle Hymn of the Republic_.

The book store, Celia's, had a modern look to it that clashed with the classic books I saw on the shelves. I wasn't sure but the people I had met didn't look like they would appreciate the pastime, Jace didn't look like one for _Gone with the Wind_. I picked an old copy up and blew a thin layer of dust off the cover, I loathed this book but Aro insisted I read it. I couldn't see why, it was a terrible bore.

"Nessie!" Jace called in a harsh whisper, waving me over to the empty cash register. She opened it up and cleaned it out, wiping her prints off the buttons with a rag used for dusting shelves. "Here, you're going to need this."

"This doesn't look like an old fashion ATM," I said taking some of the crisp bills and stuffing them into my pockets. "I thought you said this place was a restaurant."

"Oh, it is," she assured me, flipping her perfect brunette hair over her shoulder. It was the precise shade of my mothers with an underlying red tone that made her look more exotic than European. Jace kicked the cabinets under the cash register until she heard a hallow sound. With a smile she opened it up.

"Get in," she opened it up and I saw a compartment that had no earthly right being in the middle of a book shop. It was completely steel and was both too small to lay down in or sit up in so I would have to crouch to get in and it wouldn't hold me comfortably, let alone the two of us.

"Are you waiting for an engraved invitation?" she asked seconds away from tapping her foot. "Trust me, it'll fit the two of us."

"Well I'm glad _you_ think so," I told her. "Call me crazy, call me high maintenance, hell I'll even take spoiled but excuse me if I'm a bit claustrophobic to get in the creepy steal elevator to hell."

"You are undoubtedly Edward's daughter. Don't worry, he hates me too. Long story short if you don't get in the elevator I'll have to not tell you why your parents, well you mother, dislikes me so much," she grinned at the thought of Bella disliking her. Stupid vampire. I ended up sitting with my neck bent into my knees which were pushed up to my chest. Jace joined me.

"Spill," I ordered.

"I met your dad once upon a time in Italy and we really hit it off," she told me using the term 'once upon a time' for the second time that day. "So Edward's a really gentleman but not my type, a little too old. Not like he was interested. We parted on amicable terms...but I did need his car so that might have caused some friction."

I was getting the feeling my dad really liked his car.

"And we met up a few years later and he has this little wife, you're mom," the elevator lurched downward and I fought the urge to scream. Jace didn't even seem to notice while she flew a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. We didn't have enough room to shift our elbows so it ended up falling right back down.

"What is my mom like?" I asked trying to keep my mind off the fact that I was hanging above a seemingly bottomless pit stuck in a metal death-trap with a vampire who wouldn't be harmed if it suddenly fell.

"She was no fun at all," Jace pouted from what I could see. "Always sad, probably thinking," she gave me an unhappy stare like something was my fault, "about you. I tried to cheer Edward up, for old time's sake, and she got really mad at me. I don't know why, I mean, I was just trying to start up an old game of ball with the family. No offense kid but the Cullen family isn't what they used to be."

"Why not?" I asked, pinching the bridge of my nose in confusion. "What were they like? What _are_ they like?"

"Sad," she tried to choose the word carefully. Jace pursed he lips and the elevator jerked again. "They're all really sad and slow and edgy. Especially the girls. The guys all wallowed in their sorrow but it was the ladies who really took it out on me. I was the innocent bystander who was dumb enough to ask 'what's wrong.'"

"So is that why you're afriad to go see her again?" wow, my mom really did a number on this girl.

"No way!" Jace laughed kicking the doors open. "She's just going to kill me because she'll think I'm playing this terrible joke. I know I'm immortal but Bella can really give a gal a run for her money."

I smiled now knowing that I could get out of a claustrophobic's nightmare room and into the underground world. I slid out with horrid grace and stood up, brushing myself off because even I could smell the metal on Jace.

The restaurant looked like a quaint Italian place and I felt odd in my outfit, having stepped straight out of an elevator that appeared to be a cabinet next to a filled tables. The people at the tables were not people. Not vampires either and definitely nothing in between. They were beautiful and I felt myself drawn to the family of eight, even though they were of all ages they were more perfect than any vampire I had seen. Something about them was lighter and still more beautiful.

"Come on," Jace pulled me. "Some harassing the pixies."

"Pixies? There's no such thing as pixies," I said.

"We call them pixies," she rolled her eyes. "They're hyper vampires who died, see that's what happens when the undead are killed incorrectly, we come back not pissed off but really happy. It's weird, I wouldn't suggest trying it. Especially when you get one of those cynics like Alex."

"Who's Alex?" I asked.

"I am," a boy, seventeen if not a day younger, and one of the striking beauties that were at the table behind me laughing. His golden hair and fair skin seemed to almost glow even though I knew no sunshine to be strong enough to reach the approximate thirteen stories we were below the subway.

"Who are you?" he was more curious than hostile but there was an underlying tone in his voice, somewhere in between the two.

"Get this, she's the Cullen kid," Jace shrugged and Alex suddenly relaxed his broad shoulders.

"Oh, well in that case I have a table with reservations," his honey eyes sparkled and I was confused. "Nice to meet another one of a kind but your uncle and I have a past together so we can never be," he said it like it was a bad thing. "Ah good old Jasper...I stole his girlfriend and he nearly sent me to the grave."

"Where are we?" I was just following Jace who had to get on her tip toes to talk to our waitress who smiling at Alex. He gave her a wink and started to follow her to a table where another girl was sitting. **(A.N: no addy i didn't forget :P)**

This girl was a different kind of beautiful. Her features were more defined than Jace's which made me believe she was older but not my much. She had short brown hair and brown eyes that stared off into space while she sipped a wine glass filled with blood. It wasn't human but she wasn't enjoying it because there was still a reddish tint to her eyes.

"Addy!" Jace called and the girl suddenly came to attention. She smiled happy to see her friend and moved her handbag off the booth seat so Jace could sit next to her. I decided to sit on the opposite side of them.

"Oh dear God what have you done?" she asked when she saw me.

"Well my trip was fine thank you very much," Jace said examining her nails. "The weather in Italy was wonderful but staying overnight in that airport truly sucked. All in all I would have to say it was a good choice but I didn't get any closer to discovering any secrets about my past or yours because- once again- Aro was too busy to see me!"

"Hey Addy," Alex leaned on the table. "Meet the Cullen girl."

"I have a name," I waved my hand a little. "It's Renesme, most people call me Nessie."

"Very nice to meet you," Addy was at least _trying_ to be polite and for that I was thankful. She was doing a pretty good job, Addy was by far my favorite. "But trust me when I say that you don't want to be involved in this."

I recant.

"Just let me find my parents and I'll leave you alone," I begged. "Jace said something about a Jared, she said he might be able to help me and-"

"I'm trying to do you a favor," Addy said. "You seem like a nice person. Go find a nice orphanage and a foster family that won't mind you not aging. Forget about your family, forget about your life because you don't want Aro coming after you and we especially don't want him coming after us."

Okay, **now **I get the rational one! But she's apparently in charge which is bad because she doesn't want me anywhere near her. Not good.

"Who don't we want coming after us?" the two most hansom men imaginable just walked sat down next to me. Part of me wondered if this restaurant had a special qualification for all its costumers to be outrageously gorgeous. If so why hadn't I been kicked out yet?

There was another blond one, his hair was more of a dirty blond though and it was cut to be messy, like he had tried to do it himself with a dulled knife. But dazzling green eyes pulled it off and so did the crisp white polo he wore with jeans. There were sunglasses clipped on the front collar of his shirt that hinted designer. The other one, he had darker hair and was far more quiet. This one didn't make eye-contact with anyone and had blood red irises that shone against his pail skin with an eerie contrast.

"I'm Asher," said the blond one. What was with the vampires and A-names? Alex, Addy, Asher, did I have to change mine to Alejandra just to hang with them? "You must be Edward and Bella's daughter. Ash Pierceson, it's my pleasure to meet you. I see you've already met my fiancée Jacquelyn Catherine."

So that's what Jace is short for.

"Jared," the other one said quietly. I guess that was his way of introducing himself. Ash didn't seem to notice because he dropped a cloth bag that looked like it came straight from Dr. Zivago on the table and opened it up. It smelt like money.

I looked inside the bag and it was filled with stacks of bills, all showing Benjamin Franklin's knowing smile and all bound by rubber bands in thick stacks. I did the math in my head and there had to be at least a quarter of a million dollars there.

"It's enough," Jared said seriously to Jace. She looked pleased with the amount but I could tell when it came to power she wasn't exactly the highest on the food chain.

Addy was in charge of operations, that much was clear. Jared looked to be the brains of everything but the charismatic couple of Jace and Ash must have been the ones to carry out the plans. That or Jace was just really good at getting information which I'm guessing were from the scars on her arms. I don't know what Alex did.

"So how was the heist?" Addy asked happy to see Jared.

"Everything went perfectly, after all, you did plan it," I was surprised to see Jared light up when his eyes met Addy's. She started fiddling with the edge of her shirt and would have been blushing.

It was like there was some sudden surge of electricity when he saw her and Addy became lost in Jared's eyes as well. There was something going on between them, the pure undeniable love of childhood crushes except their feelings were so perfect that they didn't fade. I felt a small jealousy that I pushed away.

"Maybe today they'll stop making googly eyes at each other and just kiss," Alex said behind me and I jumped. I hate human reflexes, I really do.

"Alex, stop bothering us and go flirt with that Ukrainian girl I saw you looking at," Jace dismissed him. Alex winked at her and I think I could see Jace gag, her fiancé just rolled his eyes and called over a waitress. Alex faded back into the main part of the restaurant.

"I'll have the usual," he told her.

"Ash, I know you just got back from Austria but do you think you focus for a second?" Addy asked tapping her fingers on the table. "I sorry Nessie but we really can't keep you with us. Or help you."

"Why not?" I was surprised to here it was Jared who asked the question. "Think about it Addy, she seems harmless enough. Not to mention if Aro, or anyone from the Volturi for that matter, come within twenty miles of her Jace will just rip their head off."

Addy was starting to think about it more because Jared suggested it. At least he's on my side.

"Fine," she pursed her lips. She was being smart in not wanting to take me. "But only a week."

"Thank you," Jared smiled at her and Addy lightened a bit. The waitress coughed and Addy snapped back to attention.

"I have whatever he's having," she nodded towards Jared.

"Anything fresh will do," he told her and the waitress scribbled down something.

"I'll have my normal drink but spike it twice and no ice," Jace rubbed her hands together like she was cold. Maybe she should have worn a sweater, or a real shirt. Ash was giving her a disapproving look but she shrugged. "What? I just got back from Italy, give me a week."

I didn't know what to order. I looked toward Jace once but she had engaged with Ash in a conversation with so many proper nouns that it wasn't worth following.

"She'll have the angel hair pasta," Addy ordered for me. "Normal red sauce and a Coke to drink." The waitress nodded once and turned to walk away.

"You ordered me human food," I said. I hadn't had many good experiences with human food but when I did have it forced down my throat I hadn't really liked it.

"Don't worry," Jared smiled at Addy even though he was talking to me. "Danny makes amazing human food."

"Yeah," Jace broke off from her story. "It's to die for."

--  
**A/N: i'm sorry nothing really happened in this. I just needed to introduce some really important characters so you'll understand what'll happen in the next chapter. it's just long and boring, i know.**

**ADDY IF YOU DON'T UPDATE I WILL FIND YOU AND STAB YOU WITH A SPORK**


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